NCAA Football Preview - Temple Owls

NCAA Football Betting Lines

08/21/2007 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - 2006 SEASON IN REVIEW: Clearly the Owls are a work in progress, but the prevailing thought in Philadelphia is that head coach Al Golden has them headed in the right direction. Temple was not very good last season, but as the year went on the team performed better. In the opener, the Owls suffered a tough 9-3 setback to Buffalo and unfortunately the losing did not stop. Back-to-back 62-0 whitewashings to Louisville and Minnesota followed, but they finally found the end zone in their next matchup, but the final verdict was a 41-7 loss to Western Michigan. At 0-4 nothing was going right for Temple and it continued through the next four matchups, as the team fell to 0-8 with four more setbacks, including a 63-9 embarrassment against Clemson. The Owls finally found themselves in the win column, defeating Bowling Green in a 28-14 final. Unfortunately that would be the only victory for Temple, as the Owls were defeated in their final three games, including a season-ending 42-6 loss to Navy.

2007 ANALYSIS:

OFFENSE: This unit ranked near the bottom of every major offensive category last season, and unfortunately not much should change this year. QB Adam DiMichele was extremely inconsistent last season and will most likely split time this year with sophomore Vaughn Charlton. Regardless of who is under center, he will have some solid options down field as Bruce Francis caught four TDs last season and Travis Shelton is a speedster with deep-threat ability. The big question is who will replace running back Tim Brown? Jason Harper is the only returning back with game experience, so he will most likely get the nod, but don't count out freshman Jarred Kinney. This unit will have the luxury of playing behind an improving line. Center Alex Derenthal is a force and there are plenty of other linemen with experience. albeit it rather limited.

DEFENSE: The Temple defense was just as bad as the offense last season, allowing a whopping 41.3 ppg and 243.6 ypg on the ground. The yards allowed against the run should drop considerably this fall considering the team has plenty of players returning to the front line. There are four defensive ends with playing experience, but none better than Leyon Azubuike. The linebacking corps is filled with a group of inexperienced sophomores. Look for Lamar McPherson, Omar McDonnaugh-Hales and Alex Joseph to get the starting jobs. The secondary is also full of "maybes" and "what-ifs". Richard Sheppard and Dominique Harris have the safety positions nailed down, but the corner slots are up in the air. Evan Cooper has some starting experience but could take a back seat to Tommie Williams and Anthony Ferla.

SPECIAL TEAMS: Just like the rest of the team this unit was a disaster last year. Sophomore Jake Brownell will most likely have to handle both the kicking and punting duties for the Owls. The only bright spot for Golden's special teams is Travis Shelton who was a scary in the return game a year ago.

OUTLOOK: Golden knows this is a work in progress and after a 1-11 season the Owls will most likely suffer a similar fate this year. This is an extremely young squad, but there is some talent and don't be surprised if the Owls take a small step forward. The schedule is much easier now that the Owls are part of the MAC. The non-conference slate is still a bit tough, with games against Navy, Connecticut and Penn State. Overall, however, the Owls are still far away from consistent success, so expect no more than a handful of wins.

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College Football Betting Tips From a Pro

While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.

Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.

The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.

What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.

These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.

College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.

Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.

Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.

Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.

I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.

Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.

It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.

As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.

Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your NCAA college football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.